The use of containers, made of paper or plastic material, is known, equipped with safety systems to provide evidence of tampering with the container itself. These containers, also defined as “tamper-evident containers”, are configured to allow the insertion of products inside them and, following a first closing condition (generally defined as a “device reinforcement” condition”), to allow the activation of a safety device so that, following a first opening condition, the container can provide evidence thereof. These systems are generally used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food sectors in which it is of particular interest to guarantee the supply of intact products and in compliance with the specifications stated on the container. A first example of a tamper-evident container comprises a storage made of paper material having at least one opening for the insertion/picking of products into/from said container; the opening of the storage is delimited by a free edge at which a closure system of the container is movably engaged by rotation. The container further comprises a self-adhesive label made of printable polyester for heat transfer onto the container. The label is engaged with the closure system following the insertion of one or more products in the container and following the first closure of the container. The labels are configured to leave a clear mark on the container when removed, hence defining a “tamper-evident” safety device.
A second example of a tamper-evident container is described in US patent application US2011/0180537A1 which concerns a container entirely made of paper material having a storage provided with an opening—for the insertion and extraction of products—delimited by a free edge; at such opening there are two opposite lateral tabs rotatingly moveable around the edge. The lateral tabs are configured to rotate towards the inside of the storage and to be arranged in a partially overlapped condition. Each of said tabs is notched at the storage free edge to define a kind of moveable door. Further, the container exhibits a cover engaged with the free edge of the storage and interposed between the tabs; the cover is also rotatingly moveable around the free edge and is configured for being positioned above the tabs. Specifically, the cover carries an upper tab adapted to be overlapped on the lateral tabs to define a closed condition of the container; further the cover carries an engagement tab adapted to enter inside the container and to be locked to the lateral tabs for holding said closed condition.
The upper tab exhibits notches defining the doors, which are configured for cooperating with the respective lateral tab doors. The container provides, as a tamper-evident safety system, to forcedly fold inside the storage the upper tab and lateral tabs doors: the opening of the container causes the breakage of the doors carried by the upper tab. Thanks to the missing doors of the upper tab, the final user can detect that the container has been opened.
A third example, described in Italian patent application no. MI2014A000812 by the same Applicant comprises a container made of paper material, comprising a storage having at least one opening for the insertion/picking of products into/from said container; the opening of the storage is delimited by a free edge at which a closure system of the container is movably engaged by rotation. The container further comprises a safety device defined by a first hooking portion placed inside the storage and a second hooking portion carried by the closure system; the first and the second hooking portions are configured to be stably engaged following a first closing condition of the container (“reinforcement” condition of the container). The first hooking portion carries a removable portion which is configured to be separated from the container following a first opening condition of the latter, following the first closing condition, so as to provide evidence that the container has been tampered with.
The known containers described above are realised by the folding and gluing of a sheet of paper material; in particular, for the formation of the storage, two longitudinally opposite portions of the sheet of paper material are overlapped and glued together. Such portions could however represent an access point for the products arranged in the container that would allow the tamper-evident safety device defined by the closure system to be bypassed. Although the known containers described above are now used to define tamper-evident solutions, the Applicant has detected that the latter can however be improved in terms of various aspects.